Late Night Talk
by Marz
Summary: As Ed neared Al’s room the feeling of uneasiness grew and he knew then that Al was the source. He paused outside the door to Al’s room and heard the sound of muffled sobs. Glad that his instincts had kicked in and woken him up, he gently pushed the door o


**A/N:** Hey, all! A few weeks ago I finally got to see the end of the series. No worries, this story was written a really long time ago (hence the reason why it's not that good...) so it has no spoilers. I'm sorry about the format. To me the font looks like it's written in bold, but it's really not if you compare it to the title. I tried to fix it, but it didn't work. Here's hoping it turns out all right...

The beginning of this isn't very good, but I like it, anyway. When I wrote this, it took less than an hour, so it's not very detailed. And now that I'm thinking about the end of the series, is there anyone else who shares my feelings of frustration? I know there's a movie floating around out there somewhere, so if someone could point me in the right direction it would be much appreciated. Anyhoo, enough of my ramblings. I hope you all get as much enjoyment out of this story as I do. Thanks and enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** Nothing about FullMetal Alchemist is mine, I am sad to report. If it was mine, episode 25 would have had a much different outcome, as would the entire series.

**Warnings:** No warnings that I can think of. No pairings, no spoilers. Just your average FMA fic, I suppose. :)

**Late Night Talk**

Blinking his bleary eyes open, Edward Elric wondered what had awoken him. Propping himself up on his elbows, he listened intently for any sound out of the ordinary. He heard nothing for several minutes and laid back down to return to his peaceful slumber. However, the feeling of uneasiness refused to leave and continued to grow. Knowing of no other possible source of the unexplainable feeling, he climbed out of bed and made his way to his little brother's room.

The Elric brothers had finally found the Philosopher's Stone and had come home to restore their bodies. The restoration had been a success, something which Edward gave thanks for every day, although the stone only had enough power to restore one brother. Edward and Alphonse had decided to stay with Winry and Auntie Pinko while Al readjusted to his old body.

As Ed neared Al's room the feeling of uneasiness grew and he knew then that Al was the source. He paused outside the door to Al's room and heard the sound of muffled sobs. Glad that his instincts had kicked in and woken him up, he gently pushed the door open and let himself inside.

"Al?" he asked quietly, shutting the door behind him. The sobs paused only for a moment before starting up again. He walked over to Al's bed and sat on the edge, placing his left hand on his little brother's back. "Al, what's wrong?"

Al didn't respond, just buried his face deeper into the pillow.

Ed frowned at his lack of response. "Al? Come on, what is it?" Again, there was no response. After a few moments Ed took Al by the shoulders and gently lifted him off the bed to look into his face. "Al, what's wrong?"

Stubbornly he shook his head and refused to meet his older brother's eyes. Ed's frown deepened with worry, which reflected in his eyes.

"Al, look at me. Alphonse." His tone booked no room for argument and Al had to do as he was told. However, he still wouldn't meet his brother's eyes. "Al, look me in the eyes."

Reluctantly he did so and what he saw almost made him dissolve into tears again. Worry and concern were the only things present in Ed's eyes. Not anger at being woken up, not annoyance that he wouldn't talk, just plain concern. What Ed said next did reduce him to tears once again.

Ed looked at Al with all the concern he could muster and locked eyes with him. "Al, talk to me, little brother." He was only slightly surprised when Al started crying again and threw himself into his older brother's arms. Ed noticed he was shivering slightly, although he wasn't sure if it was from the emotions or from the chill of the night air. Just in case, while he held Al to him with his human arm, he grabbed the top blanket off the bed with the other and wrapped it around the form he held. Gently, with the blanket separating the automail arm from Al's body to keep from chilling him, he hugged Al closer to himself while he ran his fingers through the younger boy's hair with his free hand.

Al clung tightly to his older brother, crying into his chest. He distantly felt the chill of the automail through the blanket, making him cry harder. He knew he was confusing Ed, but he couldn't bring himself to speak. So he continued to cry—something he hadn't been able to do in years.

Ed didn't say a word while Al clung to him; he just sat still and waited for him to cry himself out. Once he calmed down he would ask again what was troubling him. Until then he would offer what little comfort he could.

After a while Al's sobs subsided, reduced to the occasional tear. He knew he would have to tell Ed what was bothering him. But he would put it off as long as possible since he knew he'd end up crying again.

Ed looked down at the figure in his arms. "Al?" he asked softly, stroking his hair a bit. He smiled as Al leaned into the touch. "You wanna talk about whatever's bothering you so much?"

Al shook his head when he knew it wasn't actually a request. He squeezed his eyes shut against another onslaught of tears. So far so good.

"Al…" The tone wasn't outright threatening, but Al knew his brother was starting to get annoyed. "If you don't talk to me I can't help you." He waited for another few minutes before sighing and releasing his hold on his little brother. "If you're not gonna talk to me then I'm goin' back to bed."

Al panicked when he felt the hold on him loosen and Ed start to stand up. He clamped onto Ed's waist for all he was worth. "No," he whimpered. He didn't want Ed to leave; he didn't want to be alone. "Please don't go. Don't leave me."

Ed stared in shock at his little brother, who was holding onto him with all his strength. Was that _his_ little brother who had just spoken? His Alphonse? What had shaken him so much that he sounded so lost, so desperate? Ed sat back down and hugged Al tightly. "I won't leave you," he assured him, heart breaking at the renewed sobs coming from his little brother.

"I'm sorry," Al cried, hiding his face in his brother's chest.

Ed blinked. Of all the things he expected Al to say, that was not one of them. "Huh? Sorry for what, Al? Al?" Ed pulled back slightly to look at Al's face. "What are you sorry for?"

"Because of me you…you can't restore your body," he replied, hiccupping a bit between words. "I got my body back, but you can't!"

Ed looked incredulously at him. "Al…is this what's been bothering you so much that you could hardly look at me this past week?"

Al nodded and continued to cry. "I'm sorry."

Ed closed his eyes and sighed. "Al, look at me, okay?"

Al sniffed and looked up, more tears falling from his eyes. He managed a small smile when Ed wiped them away with a gentle hand.

"Do you think I'm mad at you or something?"

Al looked away for a moment and decided to stare at his hands. "Maybe."

Ed placed his hand under Al's chin, making their eyes meet. "What made you think that I was mad at you? Did I do something?"

Al's eyes widened and he shook his head. "No!"

"Then what?"

Al looked back at his hands, which he wrung together nervously. "When I was in the village shopping for Auntie Pinako I heard some people talking. One man asked another if he thought that you were mad at me because I got my body back and you didn't. He wondered if you resented me because of it. The other man said that if you did you had no right to. He said that…" Al trailed off, unsure of whether to reveal the last piece of information.

Ed sighed and looked down, bangs covering his eyes. "He said that it was my fault that it happened to you in the first place," he finished quietly.

Al gasped and looked up in surprise, frowning when he couldn't see his brother's face. "How'd you know that?"

"There's not a day that goes by that I don't think the same thing, myself."

Al's eyes widened. "Niisan...I don't blame you," he said softly.

"But _I_ do, Al! I blame myself every stinkin' day! You don't know how happy I am that you have your body back. I don't care if I have to live out my entire life with automail limbs. Al, I've seen how happy you've been lately. You can touch, you can smell, you can taste, you can eat, you can do everything that I've deprived you of! Don't you see that it's worth it?" Carefully he placed his human hand on the side of Al's face and looked into his eyes. "Al, I'm not mad and I don't resent you for anything. I've never been happier. I mean it."

Al swallowed at the intense emotions in his brother's eyes. He knew Ed was telling the truth; he wasn't just saying things to make him feel better. He saw the unshed tears in Ed's eyes. He saw the guilt more clearly now than he had ever seen it before. Before he knew exactly what he was doing, he reached up and wrapped both arms around his older brother's neck.

Ed stiffened for a moment before relaxing and returned the embrace, burying his face in the crook of his little brother's neck. "I don't blame you, nii-san. I wish you'd stop blaming yourself. I agreed to go along with it; it was my decision, too. We both paid the price. Please stop punishing yourself. Please." Ed felt a few tears land on him and knew Al was crying again. The State Alchemist knew he was fighting a losing battle when he felt his own eyes sting with unshed tears. The thought of his brother crying for him was too much and he felt his own resolve start to shatter. "I'm so sorry, Al," he cried.

The two brothers sat in a mutual embrace for a long time before either one could bring himself to pull away. Ed was the first to lift his head. He looked down at Al with a slight smile as the younger brother blinked sleepily at him.

"All right, Al. That's enough soul-searching for tonight. Let's go back to sleep, okay?"

Al nodded and yawned, letting Ed release him and put him fully on the bed. "Niisan, can I sleep with you tonight? Please?" He looked up at his brother with pleading eyes.

Ed sighed and smiled slightly, shaking his head. "Yeah. Come on."

Al beamed up at him and stood, following him back to his room. They both quickly crawled into bed and covered themselves with the blankets. Immediately Al curled up next to his brother, resting his head on Ed's chest, falling asleep almost instantly.

Ed smiled down at his younger brother as his breathing evened out. Al had told him to stop blaming himself for what had happened. He still believed it to be his fault, but he would try to get over the guilt of taking away years of his brother's life—for Al. He knew Al didn't blame him, though he didn't exactly know why. All he knew was that he was thankful for the gift he called a little brother and prayed his smile would always be there for the world to see.

-

I hope that was all right...not too corny or anything. Or dull. Or anything else bad.

I have a question. I have a Yu-Gi-Oh fic that's almost done. Seto/Jou, naturally, with a little bit of Yami/Yugi on the side, though they don't have a very big part. This is all about Seto and Jou. It's called "Trains and Dragons." In a nutshell, Jou goes to bring his sister back to Seto's so they can spend time together. Their train crashes and they have to find their way home. ...It's a lot better than I just made it sound. It has lots of Seto angst, since his puppy's missing, and a good amount of drama and such. So, if you're interested and think I should post it, let me know in a review, k? It's pretty much done and all I need to write is an epilogue of some sort so updates shouldn't be too bad this time.

Gah! I'm rambling again! Sorry...anyway hope you enjoyed my little fic. Don't forget to tell me if I should post "Trains and Dragons." Thanks a bunch!


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